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Wilson supports proposed replay expansion

Wilson supports proposed replay expansion

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By Alden Gonzalez
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MLB.com |

NEW YORK -- Thursday's 8-4 win at Yankee Stadium had just finished, so C.J. Wilson hadn't heard much about Major League Baseball's proposal to greatly expand instant replay beyond boundary calls on home runs.

Whatever it takes to get calls right, though, Wilson is all for it.

"The biggest thing is we want the calls to be right, and we've had some instances where the calls haven't been right over the last couple years," Wilson said. "That's why we've got the replay."

The proposal -- which was presented at the Owners Meetings in Cooperstown, N.Y., but still needs to be voted on in November -- is centered around managers being able to "challenge" an umpire's call, similar to the National Football League.

Managers would get one challenge in the first six innings and two more from the seventh through the end of the game. If the manager wins the appeal, he retains the challenge (though the challenge from the first six innings does not carry over).

It gives managers something extra to worry about during a game, but Wilson doesn't see that as an issue.

"All the managers make a lot of money," said Wilson, who's also the Angels' union rep. "They are paid to make these decisions. I'm sure they'll adapt to it as they see fit. If you give a manager more control versus less control, I think they'd appreciate that."

As for prolonging games?

"Whatever, games are long anyway," Wilson said. "If it takes an extra two minutes, so be it. I think people would rather have the result of the game, which is set in stone after it's finished, be right. I don't think game length should be a consideration."